Primer for internal-combustion engines



H. D. WATERHOUSE.

Patented May 4, 1920 20 I K t, 34 1'/," 7- 5 F V M /7 3% y A f 3 INVENTOR MAa Br v A TTCWiWE Y HAROLD D. WATERHOU'SE, OF'HABT'FORD, CONNECTICUT.

PRIMER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1920.

1 Application filed September a, 1919. Serial No. 322,623.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD D. WATER- HoUsE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Primers for Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a primer for use with internal combustion engines and belongs to that type which is adapted for attachment to the intake passage on the carbureter side of the engine intake valve to admit a high velocity air current acting to atomize and carry along the cloud of liquid fuel, upon the manual operation of a controlling member. A device of this general type is shown in my prior Patent 1,265,011 issued May 7, 1918.

One of the objects of my present invention is to control both the air and the liquid by the action of a single valve and valve seat operating by relative reciprocation to open and close the air and liquid passages simultaneously and prevent the admission of either air or liquid without the other.

A further object is to effect an air tight seal against the admission of-either air or liquid to the engine when the device is not in operation and to secure this object by comparatively inexpensive parts.

A further object is to simplify the construction so that all of the parts maybe made by simple, inexpensive operations, the necessity of extreme accuracy in manufacture and assembly avoided, and equally satisfactory operation secured irrespective of which side up the device happens to be installed. As an important feature ofmy invention I provide a valve member mounted for reciprocatory movement, and having a central lengthwise passage and an annular gasket normally held against a seat-to close the liquid passage terminating in said seat, and at the same time to prevent the flow of air across said seat and across the endof the liquid passage. As other important features of my 'invention, I arrangethe air inletland mixture outlet at right angles to each other, one of them being through the-reciprocatory valve member so that the fluid moves radially across the valve seat at one side'of the center of which is the liquid outlet, whereby an annular gasket will give a tight closure,

.thedash 11 of the automobile.

I arrange the valve member so that it moves in the direction of flow of the air in moving to open position. I arrange the liquid fuel passage in a main body of the device so that it can not get out of adjustment or the part carrying it work loose. I arrange the valve member so that to open, it is pushed in rather than pulled out. As the valve rod does not pass through the spring chamber it is not necessary that it have a tight sliding fit. Also it permits the use of a solid head for the spring casing and therefore a perfectly air-tight casing and an effective stop is also thus easily formed on the body. I permanently assemble the parts so that they can not be tampered with or taken apart and are rendered foolproof, the parts being so simple in construction that they can not get out of adjustment.

A preferred embodiment of my invention also possesses other important. features and results in the securing of other important objects and advantages. It will of course be evident that other constructions may be readily designed within the scope of my 1nvention and in which some of the important features above referred to are not present.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention.

In these drawings Figure 1 is an elevation on a comparatively small scale showing one way in which the device may be installed.

Fig. 2' is a central longitudinal section in the plane of the mixture outlet, and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation in a plane viewed at right angles to the plane of Fig. 2.

My improved device is adapted to be attached to any portion of the intake passage.

I have shown it as applied at the intake pipe 10 leading to the manifold. The controlling device may be operated in any desired man ner, as forv instance, by a wire cable or rod 11 extending to an operating member, such for instance, as a pull knob 12 mounted on A suitable spring 13 is shown as holding the pull knob in its inner or inoperative position. The device may be connected to the source of gasoleneor -other-liquid fuel supply in any suitable manner, or by-any desired piping connections Asshown, a pipe 14 leads from the device to a T 15 in the main pipe line 16 from the tank to the carburetor. The preferred form of my improved device includes a body portion 17 having a threaded nipple 18 adapted to extend into the engine in take passage and a threaded nipple 19 adapted for connection to the gasolene supply pipe 1 1. These nipples are shown at right angles to each other and in slightly different planes. The .body of the device has a chamber 20 extending substantially at right angles to the two nipples 18 and 19, and having one end thereof constituting an annular valve seat 22 encircling a passage 23 lengthwise of the body. 'lVithin the chamber is a valve member including a head 24, a hollow valve stem 25, and an annular gasket 26 en circling the stem and preferably inserted in the face of the head so as to engage with the annular vah'e seat 22. The liquid fuel inlet passage 27 which extends through the nipple 19, delivers to the chamber 20 through a small delivery passage 28 terminating in the valve seat 22 and adjacent to the end of a passage 29 through the nipple 18 and terminating substantially flush with the valve seat.

The valve stem fits comparatively loosely in the passage 23 and has a central passage 30 and a lateral port 31. This port, when the valve is open, is substantially in line with the passage 29, and said port and passage are upon opposite sides of the liquid outlet 28.

For holding the valve to its-seat, I have shown a coil spring 32 mounted in the chamber 20 and engaging with the valve head.

The opposite end of the spring may abut against any suitable stop but preferably I make this stop in the form of a transverse head or plate 33 forming an end to the chamber and having the end of the body spun or swaged over to permanently retain the. endwall in place and prevent the access of air, dust, dirt, moisture, or other foreign material to the chamber 20.

For opening the valve, I have shown the body provided with a boss 34 into which the valve stem 25 extends. The boss has a transverse slot 35 in which a lever member 36 is pivoted by a cotter pin or other suitable pivot 37 at one side of the passage 23. The spring '32 normally pushes the valve to its seat and the end of the valve stem engages with the lever to swing the latter out to the dotted line position shownin Fig. 2. The pivoted end of the lever may have a portion cutaway or otherwise designed to form a stop 38 which may engage with the body and prevent the lever from swinging out of the slot in the valve stem and therefore always prevent rotation of the valve. When it is desired to open the valve, it is merely necessary to swing or pull thelever in to the solid line position shown in Fig. 2. The inner side of the slot provides a rigid stop for limiting this movement of the lever so that the air inlet hole and mixture outlet hole will always be in line when the valve is open.

As the lever is preferably steel and the valve brass, I preferably provide a steel insert 39 in the valve stem for the lever to push against. .This prevents wear or possible swaging action and givesv a central pushing point. The air may enter through a side hole in both the casing and valve stem instead of at the end of the stem.

The. passage 30 through the valve stem is of considerably greater diameter than the thickness of the lever 36 so that when the valve is forced from its seat, air may enter.

than this contracted portion and is smaller than the passage 30. Thus the valve when open, presents a form of venturi and the air passages at high velocity across the liquid outlet to suck out the liquid and carry it along as a fine spray to the engine intake. Any suitable means may be employed for preventing rotation of the valve so as to bring the port 31 and passage 29 out of alinement. A simple means involves the slotting of the outer end portion of the valve stem so that the slot receives the lever and the valve is thus prevented from rotating. The device is of course not intended for use as a substitute for the carbureter although it does form and deliver a carbureted mixture. The device is intended for use only at the time it is desired to start the engine and at such time the carbureter throttle is closed and the valve of. my device opens. As soon as the engine is turned over by hand or by the self-starter, the air rushes in through the device at high velocity, instantly forms an explosive mixture, and en ters the engine cylinder. As soon as the engine fires, and takes up its regular cycle of operation, the valve of the device is closed and the main carbureter is relied upon for supplying the fuel mixture.

The valve stem 25 may be made to fit the passage 23 comparatively loosely and no part of the valve itself need be made with any great degree of accuracy. The port 31 although it moves into and out of the passage 23 is not intended as avalve for controlling the air as the valve stem may fit the passage entirely too loosely to make an effective seal. To make it fit substantially airtight would require careful and accurate workmanship and correspondingly increase the cost of manufacture. The. gasket 26 being of annular form and entirely surrounding the passage 30, forms an airtight seal when it engages with the seat 22, and this avoids any necessity for accurate construction of the other parts. The gasket also abuts directly against the end of the liquid fuel outlet 28 and forms an air tight seal for the latter.

It will be noted that the valve moves in the direction of travel of the incoming air. The spring 32 in the form illustrated is made suh'iciently strong to prevent the em gine suction from pulling the valve open but it will of course be evident that in some embodiments of my invention I might make the spring 32 very much weaker so that the engine suction could pull the valve open, and in that event, the valve stem 25 would be made shorter so that it would not engage with the lever 36 and the latter might be provided with a valve for closing the outer end of the passage 23. Upon pulling the lever 36 from solid line position of Fig. 2 to the dotted line position, it could open the end of the passage 33 and engine suction would pull the valve head 24: inwardly against the spring and permit the operation of the device. I have shown the valve operated from the hollow valve stem end. It will of course be evident that the hollow valve stem might be omitted and a solid valve stem provided at the other side of the head and the valve lever pivoted at the other side so as to operate to pull the stem out and thus pull the valve away from its seat. In the device as illustrated, the passage 23 is intended as the outlet and the passage 30 as the inlet, but it will of course be evident that this might be reversed, particularly if some other means than that shown were employed for the manual operation of the valve.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A primer for internal combustion engines, including a valve casing having an inlet and an outlet substantially at right angles to each other, an annular valve seat concentric with one and a liquid passage terminating in said seat, and a reciprocatory valve member having an annular gasket normally engaging with said seat to prevent flow of liquid from said passage and prevent flow of air from said inlet to said outlet radially across said seat.

2. A primer for internal combustion engines, including a valve casing having an inlet and an outlet, an annular valve seat concentric with one and a liquid passage terminating in said seat, and a reciprocatory valve member having an annular gasket normally engaging with said seat to prevent flow of liquid from said passage and prevent flow of air from said inlet to said outlet radially across said seat.

3. A primer for internal combustion engines, including a valve casing having an inlet and an outlet substantially at right angles to each other, a valve seat between said inlet and outlet and a liquid passage terminating in said seat, and a reciprocatory valve member having a gasket normally engaging with said seat to close the end of said liquid passage and prevent the flow of air from said inlet to said outlet across said seat.

4:. A primer for internal combustion engines, including a valve casing having an inlet and an outlet, a valve seat between said inlet and outlet and a liquid passage terminating in said seat, and a reciprocatory valve member having a gasket normally engaging with said seat to close the end of said liquid passage and prevent the flow of air from said inlet to said outlet across said seat.

5. A primer for internal combustion engines, including a valve casing, having a chamber, an annular valve seat at one end, a passage in the side wall terminating substantially flush withsaid seat, a passage in the end wall co-axial with the seat, and a liquid passage terminating in said seat, and a valve member in said chamber and hav ing an annular portion movable into and out of engagement with said seat.

6. A primer for internal. combustion engines, including a valve casing, having a passage in the end thereof, a passage in the side thereof, a chamber communicating with both passages, an annular valve seat at the end of the chamber and encircling said first mentioned passage, and a liquid passage in said end at one side of said first mentioned passage and terminating in said seat, a valve member in said chamber having an annular portion for engagement with said seat, and a spring for normally holding said member against said seat.

7. A primer for internal combustion engines, including a valve casing, having a passage in the end thereof, a passage in the side thereof, a chamber communicating with both passages, an annular valve seat at the end of the chamber and encircling said first mentioned passage, a liquid passage in said end at one side of said first mentioned passage and terminating in said seat, a valve member in said chamber having an annular portion for engagement with said seat. a spring for normally holding said member against said seat. and means for operating said. member against said spring.

8. A primer for internal combustion engines, including a chamber, a passage in one end wall thereof, a valve seat encircling the inner end of said passage, an outlet passage from said chamber, and a liquid inlet passage terminating in said seat, a valve member having a head within said chamber and presenting valve casing, having a "an annular gasket for engagement with said seat, and a hollow stem slidably mounted in said first mentioned passage, and a lateral port adjacent to said gasket, and means for operating said valve.

9. A primer for internal combustion engines, including a valve casing having an annular valve seat, a liquid inlet terminating in said seat and an outlet substantially at right angles to the plane of said seat, and a valve member having a hollow valve stem projecting through said seat, a head for engagement with said seat, and a port in the side wall thereof adjacent to said seat and adapted to permit the delivery of air across said seat upon the movement of the valve head away from the latter.

10. A primer for internal combustion engines, including a'fvalve casing havin 'an annular valve seat, a liquid inlet terminating in said seat and an outlet substantially at right angles to the plane of said seat, and a valve member having a hollow valve stem projecting through said seat, a head for engagement with said seat, and a port in the side wall thereof adjacent to said seat and adapted to permit the delivery of air across said seat upon the movement of the valve head away from the latter, said port and said outlet being then substantially in alinement and upon opposite sides of said liquid outlet.

Signed at Hartford in the county of Hartford and State of Conn. this 27th day of Aug. A. D. 1919. v

HAROLD D. WATERHOUSE. 

